Have you heard just how wondrous wetlands are for wildlife? Water and wildlife go together like beans and toast! Wetlands range from small ponds to streams, from long rivers to lakes created in gravel pits – and they are all excellent for wildlife. You can learn more about them here.

Wetlands store water and can help prevent flooding and droughts and that’s extremely important when we’re dealing with the effects of climate change. Reedbeds act as a natural filtration system, cleaning polluted water and improving water quality.

Every year, huge flocks of water birds migrate to the UK’s wetlands in autumn and winter – most of them come here to escape the very cold winters of the Arctic circle and Scandinavia as our weather is milder and there is more food available here.

Did You Know?

Did you know ducks lose their flight feathers and for about a month every year in mid-summer they are unable to fly? This makes them vulnerable to predators so they look for wetland habitats where they can group together and camouflage themselves safely.

Sadly, many of our wetlands have been drained and lost to create land for farming. Nowadays, wetland covers 5% of the semi-natural habitat in Hertfordshire, covering less than 1% of the total county area. With the national average being 3% wetland cover, it highlights just how important it is for us to look after our limited wetlands locally.

Create Your Own Wetland!

If you’d like to do your bit to increase wetland habitat locally, how about creating your own mini pond and supercharging your garden or outdoor space with wildlife. Ponds support a huge range of species - as well as an impressive diversity living in and on the water, ponds are wonderful for animals that live on land too. They supply drinking water, shelter and a supply of both insect and plant-based food.

Discover Water Creatures

Pond dipping is a great way for you to get a close-up view of some of the creatures that live in water. Even in the smallest of ponds, you can find interesting things lurking such as water beetles and dragonfly larvae. Pond dipping is easy to do and you won’t need much equipment other than a net and tray but it’s important to do it safely so adult supervision is strongly advised.

Fine Tune Your Wildlife Detective Skills

Have you got a river close to where you live or perhaps close to somewhere you are visiting over the summer holidays? See how many of these river-loving birds you can find in our spotter guide here and whilst you are at it you might want to take on the role of Geese and Swan Detective and see how many of those you can tick off too!

Coming up

Next week we’ll be looking at the colourful world of butterflies to inspire yet more ways to have some wild fun this summer.

And finally…

Above all, we want you to stay safe and enjoy the great outdoors and all it has to offer. To help you do that, we’ve produced this blog ‘Stay Safe in Hot Weather’ –  with advice on water safety and fire safety, as well as tips for your own personal safety and comfort.

Why not keep a record of all your school summer holiday activities? We’d love to see what you get up to so please do share your stories, photos and creations with us on social media. You’ll find us at @hertswildlifetrust on Instagram and Facebook and @HMWTBadger on Twitter.